And while I hate to think about Marney having sex with Sam, I’m grateful I didn’t have to worry about deflowering a virgin. I mean, that’s a lot of pressure on a dude. I’d been around the block a time or two, so even though I certainly had the ability to eradicate the V-card, I was still glad I didn’t have to.
It made that first time together freakin’ fantastic. There was no fumbling around or uncertainties between us. We chose our six month anniversary to have sex for the first time and it was mind blowing. It was exactly how I’d imagined it would be...soft, slow and shattering. I’d got us a hotel room for the night, and armed with a box of condoms, both of us left starry-eyed and sore the next day.
We made plans to sneak out and meet up tonight. Marney lives just two blocks east of me and I’m going to her house to get her. I know just the place to take her. There’s a quiet spot in the woods that borders Griffith Park. It’s an unusually warm spring night, I pilfered a bottle of my parents’ wine from the liquor cabinet and I hope to make love to my girl under the stars.
I glance at my watch again.
11:55PM.
Time to rock and roll.
Bending over, I grab my backpack which has a blanket and the wine…oh, and condoms. Just as I turn for the bedroom door, the piercing wail of a siren slams into my brain. I walk to the window and pull the curtain back, catching a glimpse of a fire truck as it barrels down the road right in front of our house.
I hope to God the sound doesn’t wake my parents up and ruin my escape plan. Just as I start to turn away from the window, an orange glow catches my eye.
Right over the roof tops of the houses across the street...just east of here.
My brain doesn’t process what I’m seeing at first, but then I realize the glow is from a fire, and it looks to be pretty big. Now I know where the fire truck is going.
I turn away from the window but then a shiver runs up my spine, warning me that something is wrong. Turning back again slowly, I look back at the fire.
Just east of here.
Oh God!
Marney lives just east of here and my stomach bottoms out as I realize that glow is coming from somewhere in the vicinity of her house.
I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and hit Marney’s number. It rings four times before going to voice mail. There’s no fucking way she wouldn’t answer.
Dropping my backpack, I sprint for my bedroom door, throwing it open so hard it slams against the wall with a resounding crack, knocking my signed photograph of Martin Brodeur to the floor where it shatters. Adrenaline pumps through me as I take the stairs three at a time. I vaguely hear my dad calling out, “What the hell was that?” but I’m out the front door and tearing down the street.
I would normally go down Pine, then turn east onto Glenford Street until I hit Macon to get to Marney’s but fuck that...I don’t have time. Angling through Mrs. Capistrano’s yard, I scrabble over her chain link fence, only to take three sprinting strides in her small back yard, and do the same to get over the back part of the enclosure.
Dodging and weaving through the next block of yards, I run out onto Macon Street and come to a dead stop.
Marney’s house is just two doors down and my knees almost buckle underneath of me when I see it’s fully engulfed in flames. My hesitation lasts only a second, and I start running.
Running toward Marney.
I push my way through a sizable crowd that has filled the streets, knocking people roughly out of my way. I think I even knock a lady over but I could give a shit. Careening around one of the three fire trucks that sit in front of Marney’s house, I’m almost knocked backward by the wave of heat that is pouring off her house. Huge tongues of flame are waiving from every window but I don’t stop and in fact, kick my speed up a notch.
I’m just steps away from the front porch, holding my arm up to ward off the heat. I can’t even fathom how I’m going to get inside with the fire pouring out the front door, but that doesn’t slow my progress.